NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE AND NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (Yearly percentages of undergraduates and postgraduates with scholarships)

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE AND NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

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(Yearly percentages of undergraduates and postgraduates with scholarships): **

20.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Education, from 2001 to 2005 (a) what are the yearly percentages of undergraduates with scholarships in the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University respectively; (b) what are the ratios of local to foreign students in these percentages; and (c) how many of these scholarships are sponsored by the industries, universities, Government-related boards and research agencies respectively.

21.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Education, from 2001 to 2005 (a) what are the yearly percentages of postgraduates with scholarships in the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University respectively; (b) what are the ratios of local to foreign students in these percentages; (c) how many of these scholarships are sponsored by the industries, universities, Government-related boards and research agencies respectively; and (d) what are the ratios of local to foreign postgraduates holding university sponsored scholarships.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: On average, about 14% of our undergraduates and 30% of our postgraduates in NUS and NTU in 2001-2005 were on scholarships. About one-third of the undergraduate scholars were local students. One quarter of the postgraduate scholars were local students.

The largest segment of undergraduate scholarships comes from industry, which offers about 54% of the scholarships. The Government's share is about 35%. The universities have been increasing their provision of undergraduate scholarships, with their share rising from about 8% in 2001 to 11% in 2005. The remainder comprising less than 1% has been offered by research agencies.

On the other hand, the universities themselves account for the bulk of postgraduate scholarships, although their share has declined from about 90% in 2001 to 79% in 2005. The industry and research agencies have been increasing their provision of postgraduate scholarships. The number of postgraduate scholarships offered by industry has increased from about 5% in 2001 to 12% in 2005. Similarly, those offered by research agencies have increased from about 2% in 2001 to 6% in 2005. The postgraduate scholarships offered by the Government have also been on a rising trend. Currently, the Government offers about 3% of the postgraduate scholarships.

Currently, about 25% of the scholars holding university-sponsored postgraduate scholarships are local students.